I just had my mind blown away. I was fortunate to have had a very informative and transformative meeting with one of our customers who is blind.

I think it is safe to assume that many (if not most) of you are just as ignorant as me regarding how visually impaired people use DAWs and plugins. "What? There are blind people making music!? Are you serious? How?"
I think there are far more such people out there than we are aware of, and most of them just put up with whatever is out there, made by us for us. It doesn't have to be that way, and it should not be that way.

So, as we advance, I want to encourage every one of you software developers to build your plugins to be 100% accessible to all. A little more effort on our behalf can make a massive difference to many. I am starting this thread for all of us to get better informed of this entirely different dimension to make better tools for more people.

Here are some things I learned today (edited).

• The text label for each HISE component that usually inherits the name of the element ID actually gets read by screen readers, and that is what blind users navigate by, even though it is not shown on the GUI. So, don't just leave the text as is. Please give it a meaningful name like kick volume, main volume, etc.
• Blind users listen to screen readers at surreal talkback speeds. When naming elements, start with the unique identifier. For example, instead of calling it "slider kick," name it "kick volume" so they can quickly scroll through the elements without waiting and listening to the common word between multiple elements.
• The screen readers detect the element type, so those don't need to be included in the names. For example, there is no need to include the word "button" in the text for such an element. The screen reader will let that user know it is a button when reading the name of that element.
• Most users will navigate through elements using TAB (forward) and SHIFT+TAB (back).
• Values of elements should be adjustable by using the arrow keys up/down and, ideally, also Page Up/ Page Down and Home / End for large increments.
• To test how your plugins function in a screen reader, use VoiceOver on Mac and NVDA for Windows systems. If they work well on those, they will work just as well on other systems.

While I discovered things I could quickly fix in my plugins, some issues will require @Christoph-Hart 's help.

• BUG: Slider values can not be adjusted using arrow keys, nor page up/down, home/end.
• BUG: The defaultValue of a slider (e.g., "0.845") is presented to a screen reader as the element's name instead of the text field value (e.g., "kick slider").
• BUG: Buttons are read as "checkbox" element type. Can you please change this to say "button"?
• Can we have the ability to exclude specific elements from being read by screen readers, such as icons? For example, I have many icons behind buttons that blind users must scroll through to access functional elements.
• A nice touch would be a visual highlight of some sort for the element which has been selected using TAB. I know it is not for the Blind, but it would improve overall usability.

That's it for now. I am excited by the idea of being able to make my products fully usable without even seeing them.

Hey guys,
I want to introduce to you the results of the most challenging work I have ever completed in my life: GoranGrooves Handy Drums. Considering I am one of the world's lamest coders, the fact that I actually managed to accomplish this is unbelievable. This was all sheer determination with countless tiny steps.

Thank you all who contributed directly or indirectly in one way or another.
@Lindon @d-healey @JulissaDantes @Jay @Dan-Korneff

My most enormous thanks go to the brilliant genius, @Christoph-Hart. You are too humble to admit how genius you really are. Not only have you created an incredible platform, but the means for us to bring our ideas and aspirations to reality. Your hard work and creativity enabled me to make my creative dream come true. This is one of my most proud accomplishments, and I managed to do it because you unlocked the doors to the possibilities. I am forever grateful. THANK YOU from the bottom of my heart! :folded_hands_light_skin_tone:

So, here is what I have done so far.
https://youtu.be/bigQutsFbvo

And here is what Computer Music mag had to say about it

@d-healey XChange is good to have to be able to conduct business with 3rd party sellers. It definitely cuts on extra BS you would need to deal with if doing it directly, so it is a preferred method.

In my experience, it has not been a major source of revenue. "Best Service" must have done a feature on us, as we saw some sales from them when they added us. Most sellers just add the content to their catalogs, and that doesn't do anything, really.

One approach would be to work with resellers one-on-one through XChange to get them to do a limited-time promotion of some sort. Without them making some kind of additional effort to push your products, just adding them to the catalog is pointless.

I think what we'll end up doing is seeing who is willing to do product pushes and offer some extra incentives, then evaluate the results. We'll probably rescind listings from resellers who haven't made any extra promotional efforts. I don't see any benefits to be listed in some massive catalog. Nobody really needs a sales platform. What we, brands, need is access to customers and a spotlight. If a seller can't provide that, they are of no value to us.

Having your own store and doing your own marketing is absolutely essential.

Regardless of where someone may purchase our products, they always must come to us to download them and get the license keys. That will never change.
Don't feel shy about emailing customers. Don't bombard them with offers, but rather provide some value or entertainment in emails.

I also think that more beneficial efforts would be strategic partnerships with brands that align with your approach, are not inundated with products, and have a good existing customer base.

An affiliate program is another good thing to have in place.

Hey guys,

While it is not our duty to educate customers how to use their DAWs, helping them get started using your products quickly goes a long way with customer satisfaction.

We have invested a fair amount of time (=$$$$) in putting together step-by-step tutorials for our customers for most DAWs. I am including the complete list here that may be helpful to you when dealing with your customers or putting your tutorials together. It will save you significant time and agony.

Here they are, courtesy of my brother, Boyan, who must learn to do this in every DAW to put these together!

How To Load Virtual Instrument Plugins In Steinberg Cubase / Nuendo

How To Load Virtual Instrument Plugins In Presonus Studio One

How To Load Virtual Instrument Plugins In Apple Logic Pro

How To Load Virtual Instrument Plugins In Apple GarageBand

How To Load Virtual Instrument Plugins In Image-Line FL Studio

How To Load Virtual Instrument Plugins In Avid Pro Tools

How To Load Virtual Instrument Plugins In Cockos Reaper

How To Load Virtual Instrument Plugins In Reason Studios' Reason

We are still actively producing and posting tutorials, and I will update this list to reflect that as we go. Bookmark this page for future reference.

Not a joke or a clickbait. My little GoranGrooves brand is in legally binding contract with the tech behemoth AVID. Yesterday was the GoranGrooves day, and what started as an exciting, peaceful morning had literally left me in tears by the late afternoon, looking for the nearest rock to crawl under.

I've been working for the last 3 months without a single day off, right through the holidays, to try to wrap up v2.0 of Handy Drums, at least for the NAMM and Avid partnership, which was coinciding at the same time. As part of the Avid promo, we are giving away Studio Standard to their entire subscriber base (200k licenses). We postponed the launch because of NAMM, and yesterday was the big day.

The day prior, in anticipation of the traffic increase, I boosted the server to 16x Premium Intel CPUs with 64GB RAM. You would expect that to handle anything. Then, the crowds came crashing into my door.

I could see the traffic, which didn't seem like too much, but I could tell only a small number of people were redeeming the rewards. Then, emails started coming in. I couldn't access the admin of the website. Horror and panic kicked in.

For a couple of hours, I worked with an IT buddy to remedy the situation by turning off a grid plugin that normally displays all of our products in many locations throughout the website. The server specs are both overkill (utilizing not more than 25% CPU and only 8% RAM), and yet not enough, it seems. So, the situation is ongoing. Things are moving, just not in the way we would like them to. Can't really do much until the storm passes.

We are all used to dealing with bugs and issues when developing software. It is a completely different beast when you are trying to resolve something in real time as hundreds of people are surging your way.

The moral of the story? Not sure. Perhaps be careful what you wish for? You can never be too prepared?

Thanks so much, all of you, guys! I apprecaite it very much. You really make this a special community.

Hey guys,
I want to share with you an awesome installer-creator for PC that has given me great results: Paquet Builder.

It is a highly flexible and extremely powerful installer builder that allows for so many customizations of the way your package is installed and the way it looks. Here are some things I love about it:

• A ton of variables built-in
• Custom variables for any element you create (eg. custom install paths) that you can reference in custom actions
• Being able to allow users to choose a location where they want each component installed
• Modern interface
• Custom installer icon
• Custom poster during installation
• Software signing
• Custom actions using IF, THEN, IF-ELSE conditional logic referencing variables and custom variables
• Pre and post actions (eg. check computer configuration, launch a program or a webpage)
• Support for custom scripts
• Uninstaller with custom icon
• Registering your installed software in Windows programs

I was able to create a custom action that notes the location of the sample library install path, then writes that path to the WindowsLink file. So, when a user starts the plugin for the first time, they don't have to waste time connecting the samples. I've done all of this without actually coding anything.

There are many more options and functionalities. It is really awesome, I am very happy with it and that's why I am highly recommending it.

They have a full-featured trial version (not time-limited) that allows you to test everything, but the final installer displays a popup that the package is not meant for distribution. The paid versions are $100 for Professional and $180 for the Ultimate (the one I got). I looked at other installers on the market and this is by far the best value for money.

I wish there was something as awesome as this for Mac.

One functionality that I feel is badly missing and adding serious labor when re-organizing modules is the ability to grab them and move them around in the hierarchy simply.

The only way to currently accomplish this is to copy and paste existing modules into the location of choice, then edit their names after deleting the originals. Another way is to open the project XML in an external text editor, locate a section of code for a particular module, and then cut and paste into another portion of code. While this works, it is very time-consuming, with a high likelihood of messing up the project.

If we could please have the functionality to move all components around on the fly, that would be a huge time-saver.

Yes, what @orange said.

@Christoph-Hart What you have created here is bigger than any individual or the software itself.
You've empowered so many of us and, with it, provided opportunities. I hope you realize the significance of it.

I follow some security updates for WP, and in the latest one today, I found out that FS License Manager, which a few of us use, had a security vulnerability that was fixed in v 5.3.2.

However, the developer has not pushed the update to the plugin, so you wouldn't know by looking at your WP-installed plugins.

Go to your Code Canyon account, download the latest version, and manually upload it now.

@RastaChess Sure. To distribute AAX plugins, you need to sign them and to do that; you need to register as a partner developer with Avid. They provide you with NFR licenses of all their PT and associated plugins and grant you free access to PACE signing tools.

In addition to that, they keep you posted on the current developments via their newsletter. Well, it pays dividends to open such newsletters and read them. They launched a program called Inner Circle more than a year ago, in which partner brands can donate products to their subscriber base in return for obtaining those customers. They promote the products as their own. As soon as I became aware of it, I contacted them right away. They checked our website, the promo video, and product pages and loved what they saw.

They were interested in including us in the program, and we patiently waited for a year to have our turn.
It works great for us, as we currently have 25 products and each product is independent.

@Lindon @Dan-Korneff Thank you, guys!

Well, here is the update.

The initial patch we did by turning off the problematic Essential Grid plugin (that displayed all products) helped things, but didn't fully solve them. As some people couldn't redeem their rewards, they contacted Avid, who got in touch with us .

Our developer/ IT buddy, Irving, dig deeper and figured out that Smart Coupons for WooCommerce plugin was running these insane search loops through the database, creating tens of thousands of queries on every page. Fortunately, he was able to fix the plugin, and the website started to fly after that. I emailed our entire list to come and click around the website, creating the same kind of traffic we had with Avid, and everything is loading fast.

I think I finally know the moral of the story. As we grow and are exposed to better and bigger opportunities, it becomes more and more critical to have a team (as small as a single additional person) of experts whom we can call upon and rely on in emergencies. The only reason why this is not the biggest failure of my life to be told to my descendants for ages to come is that I was fortunate to know Irving, who came to my rescue in a very critical and vulnerable moment.

I hope my scary experience and the lesson learned comes in useful to you too.

Happy Holidays, guys!

Who else here will be working right through, like me?

@Adam_G If it is training on all the mistakes we post on the forum, no wonder it can't get it right

@DabDab Christoph is 100% right on point here.

What I suggest is to start simple and focus on delivering an excellent product that is 100% solid. Make it affordable to the masses. Then, based on user feedback, start adding additional features and functionalities via product updates. If you continually deliver improvements to your products, then your users will be happy to pay a fair fee for the updates.

As a user, I don't like the idea of paying for products I will never own. But, I am happy to pay to update the products I use if the developer continues to maintain them. That way, a developer is motivated to keep his products up to date, at the very least, and to improve them, while the user gets value for their money.

@Christoph-Hart I am super delighted to report that your FL Studio fix works! Yay! Thank you so much for taking care of this very important bug in such a timely manner.

@d-healey I managed to combine your scripts to achieve the desired results!

Here it is, should someone else need it.

Content.makeFrontInterface(600, 500);


// btnOpen
const var btnOpenClose = Content.getComponent("btnOpenClose");

btnOpenClose.setValue(0);

inline function onbtnOpenCloseControl(component, value)
{
    pnlAni.data.open = value;
    pnlAni.startTimer(10);
};

Content.getComponent("btnOpenClose").setControlCallback(onbtnOpenCloseControl);

// pnlAni
const var pnlAni = Content.getComponent("pnlAni");
const pnlX = 180;
const pnlMaxWidth = 100;

pnlAni.setTimerCallback(function(){
       
    if (this.data.open)
        {
	        
        	this.set("width", this.getWidth() + 10);
        	this.set("x", pnlX + pnlMaxWidth - this.getWidth());
        
        }

        
    else
        {
	        
        	this.set("width", this.getWidth() - 10);
        	this.set("x", pnlX + pnlMaxWidth - this.getWidth());
        }

    
    if (this.getWidth() > pnlMaxWidth - 1)
        {
            this.set("width", pnlMaxWidth);
            this.stopTimer();
        }
    
    else if (this.getWidth() < 1)
        {
            this.set("width", 0);
            this.stopTimer();
        }
        
});

And here is the HiseSnippet

HiseSnippet 1052.3ocsV8taaaCDmxIJH1ctXEXO.D4SxnINxcscEH6OtwIovcyoFycY8aEzRzwbQhTPhNIFE4cYOD6AauAsGIkrnbcJRMZn+h4u6Nd+3oi2cCSEAzrLQJxo9ammPQNem6n4b4zdSILNp+QHmG5NfjIooXCzgySHYYzPjiyFuRA3TeSjd8++1gjHBOfVBgPmIXAz+fEyjknC696rnnSHgz2xhsz9oc6GH38DQhY.e1v0GkPBtfbN8ThRsZtHmsNNjIEoijDIMC4r4ghv4ilJthaz+LVFabDUsoCZDbPF3SDQgJFqPQ8lxhBGVbuyPvoLrLJrgIJ7CtCXgrE3kQiuWK.WZgc7vo1Whdcrom+cmdNVzaSC8dj6nfTVhrThhaOvsOG9PMg.eBrokQWTMrqaOAnAW1NlbA8jTXyBK7dtu+t3m4625flMT+1ee7XI+MITdyFvmkLI9RRZATuHQFE+K3hy6bprmHNQvgMd6XqzNlyyFpcFUdFIZF0K2YLdDiSwSlwCjLAGK31pq7QpHxKnvA6BLArtUyFenYCLrR3QujyZGRjj1BvLfXZMNnh3LIIUpx3R85nc7MZmeWtBJFmSidjnnwPZo2JIo49.gNiOsibFjaMlYDqiVFa.f2AZ24E91PCHW+2rP4TkDees2JtdTykaAAKBmdsxCSvx7G1DrmbJKqLh0ZgFXP453JpqV005C9vamqT9emcwZD3Rn4iWK7iwlv5JL4ZPc884wUtC6s7YXad4+tQcKqBSixneCn7deao7BhtTX1xi+5RmVmpQdr05youko1tsTYoHwjfuDqpF3VIw94uNp3+0S.CIto0AVuyOUHouAxPa7gF0abSC7xhlLYkxxesEobzJDmSga2PO9r3wzzhBIEJB0WqV.281Kfa2eIv7h1RQAuOmIUUGtsx5n7x.v+9q9GAuCUU5yw.8RnoRlhBNGQuDZgZp6W28HZ1EPPF5Ftn1AzUTpk9v7tBGNSJEbDKTAYWjBc8hls+6+zcdYm29ckzqkpl+Jc22nbF4RZe9vTJ7gW0FAY4wsMdrYQeHBmFoc31tlxQZWs0+kOEPoq5R5pSgTRCykNkxNeZ47A3wcYRZbwb.0250WM3iJAknOwFF848GgtzhvYQDY0V2p4UxE.oCU5Qp5CxyXx41yybuzO+tR2G4NjICltZ9VaE7ERftu4a9zQMcOdxDZfrjra5dx6t+GEB8mhYRF+7ADYJCRvbOcV7HHcHfBLgCofpmrN0TOtL68U6UQlQTdndyGgUtvNp8N4B6THDESBREuOvTnPM+01ZDfSb8Xn0g4gg83NHcwCvNW+19nXXrv2GDnBE6Abe017j0vlebMr4oqgMOaMr44qgM+zZXyK9h1nlH+kyjhXyyD.X3w5JpNNGyIPVlNiD8ILCOy0H

Thanks to you, @d-healey, I am getting stuff done and learning simultaneously. Thanks a million!

@SteveRiggs I am glad you found the advice useful and I am happy to hear that you got positive results from FB ads right from the get go. That's great! You said it well with regards to those kids. Thanks for checking out the BB Library.

I'll throw in a few more tips, which I think may go a long way in helping you or anyone else ready this, generate long-term profits.

While some visitors will make a purchase on the first visit, most will bounce. Think of strategies to be able to reach them again. It may take 7-10 follow ups before you close a sale. Email marketing has been very effective for us. Try to capture their email on the first visit. You can do so by offering something of value, like a special free plugin, tutorial, samples, discount, or something else. Think of email marketing as "permission marketing", so try to deliver value in your outreach.

Set up remarketing campaigns on Google and Facebook (and other platform that supports it), so that you can reach those visitors again. You don't necessarily need to present ads for your products, but instead could be for some useful article, video, tips or a list. Anything that will inform them further and expose your brand and products.

Consider implementing push-notifications as well, but don't prompt them to subscribe until they have spent a certain amount of time on your website or visited a certain number of pages. If they browse through 5-10 pages, they may be interested in subscribing.

You can make helpful videos that teach people how to do things while using your products to do that. If you impress them with the sound and features, they'll be looking on how to purchase them.

Analize every step of the purchase decision-making process, to the purchasing, to getting the products, installation, usage from user's perspective. Tweak it, simplify it and fine-tune until it is an absolute joy. Check out what I did in the BeatBuddy Library for checkout process. I took out all unnecessary info and input fields, made everything clean and easy to use. The idea is to make the experience as pleasant, quick and seamless as possible to avoid abandoned carts. All you really need is an email address and CC info to checkout.

Make sure to set up automatic emails that deliver clear helpful instructions on how to set up and use your products, as soon as they make a purchase. Make them relevant for the particular product or product category they purchased. You don't want them getting enoyed, confused and lost because they don't know how to install or use your products. The better you can anticipate and address any issues that may arise ahead of time, the less customer support you will have to offer for trivial issues. Never assume that something is easy or obvious just because it is easy for you.

Offer a credit on already purchased items towards a purchase of your entire collection of instruments. That was a strategy I came up with and people have been loving it ever since we introduced it. As a result, we tripled our sales! Someone that has already spent $50 may be reluctant to spend another $300 to upgrade, as they feel they would be wasting their previous investment. But, offer them a credit of $50 for their previous purchases and they will be bagging you to take their money.

Always think long-term relationship with your customers and act accordingly. Let them know you. Put a face to the brand. Once they connect with you on a human level and recognize all the effort you put into helping them, they will buy into YOU and be your loyal customers for a long time.

I hope you find this helpful :)

@SteveRiggs I am yet to see a system that can't be hacked by dedicated hackers. There is software out there by major companies that routinely gets hacked. I think that solely worrying about copy protection as a way to protect your product is not the best way to go.

First of all, I suggest making your products highly affordable and offering such a value that they are irresistible. Make them affordable and easy for an average user to purchase and they will unlikely be looking for cracked versions, which can bring viruses. You want to help turn your offer into an Impulse buy. Remember, it doesn't matter for how much you sell your digital product. All that matters is the quantity. It is better to sell 10 of your products for $200, than 1 for $50.

Rather than sweating over possible hacks, focus on your marketing instead. Build rapport and trust with your customers/ potential customers and get them to buy into you and your brand. Then, they will be buying from you on a continual basis.

I speak from experience. This is the approach I have taken with my BeatBuddy Library for the last 5 years and it has been quite successful.

It is safer to assume your work is going to get cracked regardless. Focus on getting around it and still doing well. If you do other things well, having some people get bootlegged versions won't be all bad. It is still helping spread your brand/ product awareness. If you put other things in place properly, you can still eventually turn those people into customers.

Please make HISE fully compatible with screen readers before adding new fancy features or releasing v4, so that blind users can properly use our existing software.